Shimmer Women Athletes, also known as SHIMMER, was one of the very few companies that took women’s wrestling seriously in the early 2000s, and ushered in a new wave of talent in the late 2010s. SHIMMER was based in Chicago, and was run by Dave Prazak and Allison Danger, a former wrestler herself. The promotion was founded in hopes of giving women a serious, non-objectified, and respected approach to wrestling. SHIMMER was based in Chicago, one of the biggest hotspots for fans and wrestlers alike.
SHIMMER was the place for female wrestlers in North America, for a time. They even opened their own wrestling school in 2008. Even though it was located in a wrestling hotspot, had incredible talent, and had Ring of Honor (ROH) as its sister promotion, SHIMMER closed its doors in 2021. How did one of the pioneers of women’s wrestling shut down? LWOS looks into the history of the promotion and tries to answer the question.
SHIMMER’s Complicated History
Starting from their very first show on November 6th, 2005, SHIMMER had an incredibly unique way of doing shows. They would hold one extremely large show about every three months, then the show would be distributed via DVD. These shows were so large that the material from one show alone took up two DVDs.
They were sold individually at first, until they became two-disc sets in 2016. However, the DVDs are about nine years behind, stopping at SHIMMER Volume 93 & 94. The remaining volumes are available on streaming.
Although SHIMMER was founded in 2005, a championship wasn’t introduced until 2007. The inaugural SHIMMER Champion was Sara Del Rey, who is now Assistant Head Coach at the WWE Performance Center. Del Rey won the championship in a two-night, single-elimination tournament. The tournament was featured on SHIMMER Volume 11 & 12.
Following, SHIMMER would introduce Tag Team Championships in 2008. Then, the Heart of Shimmer Championship in 2016 was a secondary championship. The Heart of Shimmer Champion was also decided by a tournament, whereas the Tag Team Champions were chosen by a six-team gauntlet match.
Ring of Honor Alliance
Due to Prazak’s former ties in ROH as a commentator, ROH and SHIMMER built a very strong bond from the beginning. ROH recognized both the Shimmer Championship and the Shimmer Tag Team Championships. Both championships were defended on ROH shows, and SHIMMER was essentially ROH’s de facto women’s division.
ROH also distributed SHIMMER’s DVDs. This, combined with the women frequently appearing on ROH programming, helped them gain international exposure. However, this strong partnership would wind down and eventually end around the mid-2010s.
ROH-SHIMMER Alliance Falls
In 2011, SHIMMER began distributing its own DVDs. This was done to put 100% of the revenue back into the company, and to make their events even bigger and better. However, it is an early sign of the relationship wavering.
Following this, SHIMMER women began to appear less and less on ROH programming. To combat this, ROH created its own women’s division in 2015. Consisting mainly of valets and managers, ROH’s “Women Of Honor” would get their own championship, the Women Of Honor Championship, in 2018. It would later become the ROH Women’s World Championship in 2020.
This relationship didn’t end on negative terms, that we know of. Both companies just went their separate ways. However, it won’t stop some fans from wondering what would’ve happened if the companies had never split. Would the women just merge into ROH? Or, would SHIMMER and ROH be the American equivalent of NJPW and STARDOM? We’ll never know.
SHIMMER Closes Its Doors
On November 1st, 2021, SHIMMER announced its closure. The two main reasons were financial ability and the pandemic. Women’s wrestling is a niche within a niche, and it’s completely oversaturated. With so many promotions, streaming services, and whatnot, it’s not guaranteed everyone will make it. Combined with the high production and travel costs, SHIMMER didn’t have the means to afford it anymore. Additionally, SHIMMER’s owner was pretty hung up on sticking to the DVD format. Due to the rise in streaming, physical media isn’t the commodity it once was. Perhaps it was the lack of adaptability that killed SHIMMER. However, the COVID-19 Pandemic also played a part, as it significantly affected their ability to film.
Only one SHIMMER Volume was filmed in 2020.
Conclusion
TNA Knockouts. WWE Women’s Evolution. Joshi and Amazonas. All of them sprang up from SHIMMER. In fact, many high-profile wrestlers used to wrestle for the promotion. SHIMMER was incredibly ahead of its time. They did the work that almost every wrestling promotion refused to do for decades. Their characters, stories, and in-ring talent they created is both unprecedented and uncredited. Women’s wrestling has come so far, and it’s time we start giving credit where credit is due.
SHIMMER still updates its website, but not very often. They also still post pretty frequently on Instagram; however, the person behind the account is unknown. I tried reaching out to them for more insight, but both attempts went unanswered.
On their website, you can still purchase DVDs and some merch. However, most of their merch can be found on their ProWrestlingTees storefront. Lastly, SHIMMER’s other sister-promotion, SHINE, is still active. Their next event, SHINE 84, is on November 8th.
And of course, I would like to end this by simply saying:
Thank you, SHIMMER.
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